Ideas Guy
The Ian Sanders Company
Ian Sanders is an Ideas Guy, Marketing Expert and Author. Ian takes business challenges and generates ideas to deliver solutions, applying fresh thinking to make businesses stand out or be more competitive. He helps clients tell their story, sell their products more effectively or translate a complex proposition into something simple. His ideas business has worked with big brands like Benetton through to one-person start ups. Ian is an ‘ideas junkie’; he revels in soaking up new thinking, disrupting traditional approaches to change. He’s author of ‘Leap! Ditch Your Job, Start Your Own Business & Set Yourself Free’ (Capstone Books 2008) ‘Juggle! Rethink Work, Reclaim Your Life’ (Capstone Books 2009) and ‘Unplan Your Business’ (e-book 2010). His new book is published by Financial Times Prentice Hall in 2011. A passionate business storyteller Ian is an active blogger: he’s written a series of columns for CBS Interactive’s BNET.com and produced an online video series interviewing luminaries such as the musician Dave Stewart and Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide CEO Kevin Roberts. Ian's spoken to audiences from South By South West Interactive in Austin Texas to London’s Royal College Of Art. He has featured in the Financial Times, The New York Times, The Guardian, The News Of The World magazine and City AM, with appearances on local radio in the UK, Ireland and the USA. Ian’s career has been united by the launch of new ventures, making ideas happen. Starting his career in music radio and music television, Ian joined the Unique Broadcasting Company where he rose through the ranks to become Managing Director of Unique Facilities by the age of 30. He managed joint ventures with ABC Radio Networks, MTV Networks Europe and Financial Times Television and led client relationships with BBC Radio, DMG Exhibitions, Turner Broadcasting, McDonald’s UK and Gala Bingo. Ian’s assignments as a consultant have an included advisory role with Noel Edmonds and an interim marketing role with Epoch Innovation’s start-up BrightStar. He founded OHM London, a marketing services agency whose clients included Classic FM, Benetton and MTV Studios. Ian earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Media with Communication & Cultural Studies from the University of Leeds in 1990. In 2008 Ian was named as a rising star in the Business category of the inaugural ‘Courvoisier The Future 500’ and in 2010 was appointed a mentor for the ‘Virgin Media Pioneers’ programme, a joint venture between Enterprise UK and Virgin Media. He's based in Leigh on Sea, 30 miles east of London, where he finds it a great place to brainstorm awesome ideas.